Electrical connector



.Dec. 11, 1951 R, T, LU'NDY ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Filed Feb. 1'7, 1949 Inventor; Richard T Lund His Attorney.

Patented Dec. 11, 1951 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Richard T. Lundy, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to 1 General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application February 17, 1949, Serial No. 77,019

3 Claims.

My invention relates to electrical connectors and particularly to a type connector which is adapted to provide easy disconnection of a contact brush lead from the brush without the use of tools.

This application is a continuation in part of my application 8. N. 637,672, Electrical Connector, filed December 28, 1945, now forfeited, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved electrical connector.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved contact brush connector for readily connecting and disconnecting a connector lead for a brush without the use of tools.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent and my invention will be better understood from the following description, referring to the accompanying drawing, and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing an embodiment of my improved brush connector and a flexible lead therefor; and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the arrangement shown in Fig. l with the flexible lead terminal disconnected from the connector.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown an embodiment of my improved electrical connector which is adapted to provide a readily detachable connection between a connector lead for a contact brush and a fixed terminal without the use of tools. In the drawing it may be assumed that the brush is not shown and the flexible lead or pigtail ll leads thereto from the shank portion I2 which is suitably clamped and brazed, or soldered or otherwise electrically connected, to the end of the lead II and formed of a size to fit tightly between the clipped fingers hereinafter described. Such clipped fingers are formed integral with the terminal designated generally at I! for the fixed member l4 which may be assumed to be a part of the brush yoke or other stationary part of a dynamoelectric machine. It is believed that the invention will work equally well if the parts are reversed so that [4 is the carbon brush itself and the flexible pigtail ll leads to some sort of a fixed binding post having a semi-permanent connection to other parts of the electrical circuit involved.

The terminal l3 comprises a locking pin [5 which is mounted in spaced relation to an end of the fixed member l4 and electrically connected thereto by a two-part connector member having base plates I6 and H with upwardly ex tending fingers l8 and I9 to which the pin i5 is secured. The base plates l6 and I! of the connector are secured to the body of the fixed member [4 in any suitable manner as by a screw 20, and are provided with a plurality of flexible cooperating contact clip fingers 2i, 22, 23, and 24. The clip fingers are formed with inwardly-extending retaining ends 25, 26, 21, and 28, respectively. It is desirable to form such a plurality of clip fingers in order that one pair of flexible spring contact clips (23 and 24 in the drawing) will be adapted to yieldingly restrain the connector lead terminal shank portion in camred position (such as by configuration of t-eir ends, 21 and 28 respectively), and additional flexible spring contact clips (2| and 22) will be adapted to form good electrical contact with said shank portion in the clamped position. As indicated in the drawing the retaining clips $3 and 24 have their ends 21 and 28 more closely spaced than the ends of the contact clips 25 and 26, the retaining clip ends 21 and 28 being tapered toward each other to adapt them to engage the upper surface of the shank portion l2 in the clamped position. The contact-making parts of the connector member iii are preferably formed of a material such as beryllium copper which can withstand relatively high temperatures, without losing its temper. and all the parts of the connector are preferably plated with a material, such as silver. to prevent oxidation and to minimize the contact resistance of the parts.

The shank portion I2 is formed with a hooked end 29 which is adapted to be hooked under the locking pin l5 by placing the shank portion at an angle to the base members l6 and I1 and then turning it about the pin l5 as a pivot to clamp the shank portion l2 securely between the clips 2|, 22, 23, and 24 so that it is removably held in position by the retaining clip ends 25. 26, 21, and 28.

Where a single mounting screw. such as 20, is used to hold the connector portion l3 to the fixed member, it may be found desirable to provide a downwardly-extending lip Ila adapted to contact a side of the fixed member inorder to prevent turning of the connector assembly upon such fixed member.

This construction provides a secure mechanical connection between the flexible lead II and its rigid shank portion l2 and the fixed member which can be readily assembled and disassembled ticular embodiment of my invention,modiflcations thereof will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be understood, therefore, that my invention is not to be limited to the particular arrangement disclosed, and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A connector for a contact brush including a terminal for a fixed member comprising two base plates adapted to be superposed one above the other on said fixed member, means for securing said base plates to said fixed member, spring contact means formed integral with each of said base plates and arranged in spaced relation above said fixed member to form a plurality of flexible spring-retaining clips and a plurality of flexible spring contact clips, a locking pin mounted in spaced relation to said fixed member and extending between projections on each of said base plates, 9. flexible connector lead having a connector lead terminal provided with a rigid shank portion adapted to be clamped between said flexible contact clips and between said spring retaining clips, said retaining clips having end portions tapered toward each other andadapted to engage from opposite sides the upper surface of said shank portion in said clamped position, and a hooked end on said lead terminal adapted to be hooked around said locking pin.

locking pin, said base plate means having flexible spring clips adapted to engage said shank portion to make good electrical contact therewith when said flexible lead terminal portion is fully inserted by rotation of said terminal portion about said locking pin engaged by said hook, and said base plate means having additional spring contact clips having upper portions extending toward each other adapted to close above said shank portion to hold said terminal portion in the fully inserted position thereof at which said first mentioned flexible spring clips fully engage said shank portion.

3. A connector for a contact brush comprising a base plate means, a locking pin mounted in spaced relation to said base plate means, a flexible lead having a terminal shank portion and a hook at the end thereof adapted to hook around said locking pin, said base plate means having a pair of spaced flexible spring contact clips and a pair of spaced flexible spring retaining clips, each clip of each pair thereof being adapted to make contact with an opposite side of said shank portion when said lead is hooked to said looking pin and rotated on to said base plate means, said retaining clips having end portions extending above said shank portion more closely spaced than said contact clips to yieldingly retain said shank portion in contact with said contact clips on said base plate means.

RICHARD T. LUNDY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 516,827 Lieb Mar. 20, 1894 534,507 Hoagland Feb. 19, 1895 1,030,013 Ralston June 18, 1912 1,146,928 Hubbell July 30, 1915 1,611,183 Frasse Dec. 21, 1926 2,169,091 De Reamer Aug. 8, 1939 2,427,182 Bergan Sept. 9, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 530,411 Germany July 16, 1931 547,658 England Sept. 4, 1942 

